Thirds to martin sheeler and wilberforce r



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

A. CALDWELL.

BOTTLE GAPPING MACHINE.

LHP WE ANVEN -Hj (No Model.) v2 Sheets-Sheet 2. A. CALDWELL.

BOTTLE GAPPING MACHINE.

No. 340,417. Patented Apr. 20, 1886. -r=-|E III- -:-n5 1v- ZMJW WITNEEEEE NITEE STATES ATEN'I FFIQE.

ALONZO CALDWELL, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OF TVVO- THIRDS TO MARTIN SHEELER AND WILBERFOROE R. MOKNEW.

BOTTLE-CAPPING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,417, dated April 20, 1886.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALONZO CALDWELL, of the city of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented certain Improvements in Machines for Capping Stoppered Bottles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in a machine for str etching over the cork or stopper of a bottle a piece of sheepskin, paper, rubber, or other suitable sub stance, and holding the said material in position until the same can be secured bymeans of twine.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure I is a partly sectional side elevation of the improved machine, and Fig. II a front eleva tion of the same. Fig. III is a plan of the machine, and Fig. IV a plan with certain parts thereof removed. Figs. V, VI, VII, and VIlI are details of the machine, and Figs. IX and X show parts of bottles after the capping operation.

A is a stand, and B a block fastened to the stand, and upon which the bottle to be capped is placed.

0 is the capping-head, tothe under side of which are secured the bars D D. The capping-head, with the bars D, is susceptible of a vertical movement, through the agency of devices hereinafter described, and in this movement the bars are guided by the plates at a, which are screwed to the sides of the block B and bear against the central ribs, 1) b, of the bars D. Strips c c,screwed to the central ribs, 2) I), bear against the outer surfaces of the plates a and serve to further guide the bars D. (See Fig. VI, which is a cross-section of the said bars and strips.)

Fig. VII shows two views of one ofthe guideplates at a.

E E are pins projecting from the bars D, to which the upper ends of the links F are attached. The lower ends of the links F are united to a lever, H, which is in the form of an open franie,and surrounds the block B, and the means of connection arepins d d, similar to the ones E E. The lever H is pivoted to the stands 6 e.

The capping-head O has a central hole, f, which. is somewhat larger than the neck of any bottle which is intended to be capped by Application tiled February ll, 1886. Serial No. 191,551. (No niodel.).

means of the machine, and to this head is hinged the follower I, having a central hole, g, of practically the same size as the one f. A button, h, on the head D is used to clamp and hold the follower to the head. (See Figs. II and III.) J

J is a handle for moving the lever H; and

in order that it may be adapted as a clamp to retain the said lever in any position within the range of its movement its stem i, which passes loosely through the lever, has a right- The operation of capping bottles by means of my machine is as follows: The head and follower are first raised to their highest position by means of the lever H and a piece of the capping material inserted and secured between the head and follower, as shown in Fig. V. The corked 0r stoppered bottle to be capped is now placed on the block B and the head forced down, in which operation the capblank is gradually drawn from between the head and follower and the cork covered, as illustrated in Fig. I. When the follower has passed to a proper distance below the rim of the bottle-neck,the lever is clamped by means of the handle J and the jaws K, as before described, and the fastening-twine tied around the cap immediately below the rim, as shown in Figs. IX and X. The head is next forced farther down, or until the blank is drawn entirely from its place between the head and follower, when the lower edge of the cap is trimmed and the bottle removed. To increase the friction of the blank in passing from between the head and follower,I provide the former with an annular projection, n, and the latter with a groove, 0, corresponding to the projection in shape, into which the blank is forced.

\Vhen the blank is formed of rubber or other elastic material, it is not necessary that it should be drawn from between the head and follower, but merely stretched, and in such a case I employ a follower with an annular projection on its under side, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. V,) which clamps the rubber For the sake of convenience the block B is made hollow, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. I, to hold the ball of twine used to secure the caps. The said ball is denoted by M, and the hole through which it is inserted to the cavity in the block by N.

I claim as my invention 1. In a machine for capping stoppered bottles, a stand or support for the bottle, com- WVitnesses:

WM. T. HOWARD, DANL. FISHER. 

